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Letter: Making our communities safer

Nov. 25, 2017

To the editor:

Another day, another death. Or, as we see more and more often, deaths. Gun violence continues to be a stain on our country, and members of Congress – including my representative, Randy Hultgren – continue to look the other way and make excuses when it comes to making our communities safer.

It is not surprising that Mr. Hultgren values the support of his donors and chooses to protect a minority of constituents who selfishly believe in their right to bear “arms” or, more appropriately, weapons of war. Such weapons include the AR-15 recently used to gun down 26 innocent lives in Texas. But Mr. Hultgren needs to be made aware that his votes are exactly opposite from what the majority of Americans – including those within the 14th Congressional District of Illinois – believe.

We deserve to have members of Congress willing to make hard choices over supporting the insufferable NRA, the greedy gun manufacturers and, honestly, citizens who believe their right to own weapons is more important than saving innocent lives. We also deserve to have members of Congress who will allow our government to perform research and studies on gun violence so we can prevent future tragedies from occurring.

I’m looking forward to next year’s election because Mr. Hultgren, along with many other members of Congress, has failed the American people on this issue, and he no longer deserves to represent us. I’ll be casting my vote for a person who will be brave. And I’ll be casting my vote for a person who will fight to make my community safer instead of protecting the person who wants to purchase a semi-automatic rifle or “bump-stock” because it’s their hobby.